


The L Word

by shturman



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Ed's alter ego, First Kiss, M/M, Mentioned Gertrud Kapelput, Mentioned Kristen Kringle, POOR LEONARD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 05:40:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20515829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shturman/pseuds/shturman
Summary: Season 2, Oswald's recovering at Ed's place.What if instead of saying that love is their weakness, Ed realized that it actually makes them strong?so basically, it's Ed trying to make Ozzie feel better





	The L Word

“«Oswald, don’t listen to the other children. You’re handsome, and clever, and some day you will be a great man.» She said it every time.” Oswald was crying now, sniffing and licking the tears off his lips. “If it wasn’t for her affection, for her true love, I would have never…” Ed wasn’t smiling anymore. “…I would have never made it. Not even through school, with all the…” Oswald cut himself off and took a deep breath. He found the courage to look up at Ed. “You may think what you will, but love is what defined me. Everything good that I had in my character was born out of her love. My bold determination, faith, that ludicrous belief that I could become someone in this city,” he chucked dryly and rolled his eyed at that. “All because of my mother. Surely, you must understand how profoundly important that is.”

Ed, who was watching Oswald very carefully and thoughtfully, looked down. When he met Oswald’s glistering eyes once again, there were no emotions on his face.

“I’m afraid I can’t understand that Mr. Penguin. However, I do believe that you and your mother had a special connection. A rare one.” Oswald wanted to say something but Ed continued, “And I sympathize with your grief. The breakfast is on the dresser, please have some.” He stood up and added without looking at Oswald, “I have some things to attend to.” 

Oswald slept through the most of the day, still exhausted. They haven’t said more than ten words to each other during the whole day and the apartment was quiet. Except for the rumbling of Ed’s tools or dishes and the moments when a Leonard woke up. But he didn’t disturb neither Ed nor Oswald. 

It was dark outside now. Ed was standing by the large window and looking down at the wet road sparkling with green. He seemed to be deep in thought. But soon he was took out from his reflections by a heavy sigh and creaking of the bed behind him. He could hear that Oswald was awake, his breathing wasn’t as slow and even as before, but the man didn’t say anything. It was Ed’s low voice that broke the silence.

“My mother didn’t like me.” He was still looking outside. The room was painfully quiet. Rain or a caravan of police cars would’ve definitely helped. “My father didn’t like both of us.” He shrugged. “So I really can’t understand you, Mr. Penguin.”

Oswald didn’t say a word but if Ed turned around and looked at him, he would have seen, for the first time, affection on Oswald’s face.

“I was thinking though. After Ms. Kringle’s death, the only way I could pull myself together was to reject, completely, the very concept of love in my life.” Suddenly Ed shot a quick look at the other corner of the room and went silent. There was a mixture of anger and disgust on his face. At first, it was impossible to make out the words he was whispering in the emptiness but soon enough the whole room started to hiss. “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut the hell up.” Oswald sat on the bed and pricked his ears. “You were gone when Ms. Kringle and I were together so what does that say to you! You coward…” It was clear that he was speaking to a person that was supposed to be standing on his left, in the corner of the room. For a second Oswald thought that there was a secret guest but despite the evening gloom he could clearly see that there was nobody there. So he returned his attention to the tall figure by the window. “No I wasn’t,” Ed said, quietly but firmly, “I was strong and I felt strong… You really think I’m afraid of you now? You’re just a stupid child that wants to have fun, you don’t want to know anything about real life… Oh, you did it for me, really? So gracious of you to chop off her hand for me. So gracious to kill that innocent man for me. You almost convinced me though, I give you that. But here you are again, you’re not a part of me, I can see it with my own eyes… Oh, I don’t want to listen to you anymore. You make me sick. Ugh, stop this tantrum already for god’s sake…”

He froze when he felt Oswald’s hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see a calm, sad face.

“Was it really love that defined you, Mr. Penguin?”

“Love defined Oswald Cobblepot, not The Penguin.”

“And who was the strongest one?” asked Ed desperately, looking into Oswald’s eyes.

“You’re really not as smart as you claim, riddle-man.”

Ed took a step back to look at Oswald properly, the small figure in his big pajamas, a bitter smile that never reached his tired eyes. Oswald looked so weak, barely there, almost transparent.

“Oswald Cobblepot,” answered Ed to his own question. “Without his strength The Penguin wouldn’t be but an insult, not the title of the king.”

“Gold star to Ed,” said Oswald in a flat voice, then turned around and slowly limped back to the bed. “None of that matters anyway,” he sighed when he finally sat down. “Love, hah. There is no love left in my world... Ah yes!” he looked up at Ed, with a wide smile on his face. “You wanted me to guide you on your new supervillainous path? So here’s some advice, Ed. If you want to end up alone, broken and scared… don’t let the fourth body wait.” He winked.

The man in the pantry whimpered. 

“Oh sure! There’s always a Leonard!”

“Mr. P-- Mr. Cobblepot,” Ed walked up to Oswald and after a moment’s hesitation sat down next to him, trying to meet his eyes but failing. “If you really were alone, you would be dead by now.”

“Are you fishing for a thank you?” snapped Oswald.

“I… I want to say that you are not alone.” Ed moved his hand as if to touch Oswald.

“Well, maybe I want to be.”

Ed dropped his hand and took a minute to find the courage to say what he needed to say to the King of Gotham. He has never been good at talking about feelings, leave alone to the man he was in awe of. 

“Love…” he said finally. “I don’t think you lost your ability to love.”

“She’s dead.”

“So is Ms. Kringle. But once they taught us to care, they’ve changed us forever. This love does not disappear just because the person isn’t there anymore.”

“But I don’t want to love anymore,” Oswald said in a small, trembling voice that made Ed lean in and look at his face. There were tears in those tired eyes once again, Ed took a deep breath. He gently placed his hand on Oswald’s slightly stubbly cheek that was turned away from him, fingertips on the prominent cheekbone. Turning the other man’s face towards him, he frowned as if getting ready to get punched in the face. But the punch didn’t follow. Instead, Oswald looked him right in the eye, a single tear rolling down his cheek and disappearing between Edward’s fingers.

“You will never be able to help it,” said Ed quietly. “She made you this way and she would be proud of you if you didn’t give up.”

Oswald closed his eyes and fell forward hiding his face in Edward’s shoulder. The hand that wasn’t touching Oswald’s cheek anymore hanged in the air for a moment and then landed on the smaller man’s back. The other arm wrapped around his slim waist. 

“Why are you so kind to me?” Oswald’s hot breath burned Ed’s shoulder when he said that. Ed smiled.

“Because you proved me wrong. And I’m rarely wrong.” 

Oswald wrapped his good arm around him tighter before pulling away.

“Love makes you do great things,” concluded Ed, smiling and looking in Oswald’s eyes so close to his now.

“Thank you, Ed,” said Oswald trying to smile but he had to look down, seemed to be hurt by whatever thought that crossed his mind. 

Edward gasped as if something precious was slipping through his fingers but he quickly riddled what has upset the other man. All he had to do now was to give the answer to the riddle. So he took Oswald’s face in his hands and made him look up at him once again.

“Mr. Cobblepot,” he said scanning Oswald’s pale face, wet with tears and sweat, “may I kiss you?”

Oswald’s eyes went wide with shock.

“What?”

But Edward remained calm, stroking his cheeks with his thumbs. He knew he was right.

“May I kiss you, Oswald?”

The other man didn’t say anything staring in his eyes, then he looked down at Ed’s lips that curved into a soft smile before they touched his own. Ed pressed his lips softly to Oswald’s. Even though there was no response at first, he didn’t pull away. Ed cupped Oswald’s head and stroked his hair gently. And then Oswald let out a small moan and kissed back. Trying to get closer to Ed, he wrapped his right arm around the other man’s shoulder, grasping the fabric of the green sweater. Ed smiled into the kiss and moved his full lips carefully against Oswald’s delicate ones, kissing his lower lip and then upper one again. Ed’s other hand was caressing Oswald’s cheek making him feel safe and loved. That was the answer to the riddle after all.

**Author's Note:**

> eng isn't my first language so if u found some mistakes, I'd appreciate it if you pointed them out :)
> 
> thank you very much for reading and have a beautiful day!


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